Systems and methods for the identification and messaging of trading parties

ABSTRACT

According to some embodiments, systems, methods, computer program code, and means are provided to receive a broadcast request and a message from a first mobile device where the first mobile device is associated with a first user, compare information in the message to information in a preferences database to match the message with at least a first recipient of the message, and to transmit the message to a second mobile device associated with at least the first recipient.

BACKGROUND

Advances in communications technology have changed the way many marketswork. For example, in many areas, widespread availability and access tothe Internet has benefited buyers and sellers of goods and services byproviding easy access to pricing and market information. Unfortunately,this easy access to information is not available to everyone. Forexample (using an example that will be carried throughout thisapplication), many sellers and producers of agricultural products mayhave difficulties finding buyers willing to buy their goods for a fairvalue.

Over half of the world's population derives their primary income fromfarming. The percentage is highest in the developing world. For example,the Indian economy is vast, having a population of over one billion, aresource-rich land mass, and one of the world's largest manufacturingsectors. The diverse Indian economy encompasses both traditional villagefarming and modern agriculture. About 24% of India's gross domesticproduct is derived from the agricultural sector that employs about 66%of the population. However, the overall literacy rate of India'spopulation is only 65%. The land area under cultivation has risensteadily and is now greater than half of the nations land area. Majorcrops include rice, wheat, cereals, pulses, food grains, oilseeds(soyabean, groundnut, sunflower, mustard, and rapeseed),sugarcane/sugar, cotton, jute, and fruits.

Many farmers, even in extreme rural locations, now have access tocellular or portable telephones (generally referred to herein as “mobiletelephones” or “mobile phones”). For example, the mobile phone market inIndia is the world's fastest growing mobile market, having currentlyover 76 million mobile users. Thanks to intense competition, consumersenjoy low call rates and access to networks. For example, India enjoysthe world's lowest call cost, with rates at less than two (2) U.S. centsper minute.

Most farmers lack access to foreign markets, financial services, andnews regarding commodity, weather, and political developments. The lackof access to this information can stifle growth in the agriculturalsectors of developing countries like India. Since farmers often lackrelevant and up-to-date information when bringing their produce tomarket, middlemen who typically have better knowledge of agriculturalcommodity pricing information, weather information, and news may be ableto take advantage of the farmers lack of access to information.

The increasingly large growth of mobile phone usage in rural areas hasdramatically removed one of the biggest obstacles of the agriculturalcommunity to access the information they need—connectivity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a method according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a method according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to some embodiments, systems, methods, computer program code,and means are provided to receive a broadcast request and a message froma first mobile device, to compare information in the message toinformation in a preferences database, to match the message with atleast a first recipient of the message, and to transmit the message to asecond mobile device associated with at least the first recipient.

Much of the world relies on mobile devices as a primary communicationdevice. The ability to deliver information anytime and anywhere isbecoming increasingly critical. Embodiments described herein, and in ourco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (filed on even dateherewith and having Attorney Docket No. R04.001), the contents of whichare hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes, allow thedelivery of relevant commodity and market information to groups ofbuyers and groups of sellers. Embodiments facilitate the readyidentification of interested and relevant trading parties based on thestatus of a buyer, a seller, a commodity to be sold, and a location ofthe buyer and seller. In this manner, embodiments provide a more levelplaying field for all market participants, including individual farmersor other sellers of commodities.

The several embodiments described herein are provided solely for thepurpose of illustration. Embodiments may include any currently orhereafter-known versions of the elements described herein. Therefore,persons in the art will recognize from this description that otherembodiments may be practiced with various modifications and alterations.

For illustrative purposes, and to aid in understanding features of theinvention, an example will now be introduced. This example will becarried through the detailed description and this example is notintended to limit the scope of the invention.

A farmer, as an example, who grows rice, may want to sell 100 pounds ofrice at a price of 50 cents per pound. The farmer may call a centralsystem, provide his home location and/or a radius from his homelocation, and the information about the quantity and price of the rice.Alternatively, the farmer may text message the central system with theprior mentioned information. The central system may match theinformation to a group of potential buyers and send a text or voicemessage to each potential buyer. In this example it is assumed that thefarmer has a JAVA enabled mobile phone.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a system 100 is shown. System100 includes one or more recipient devices 104, one or more senderdevices 108, a server 101, a medium storing instructions 109, and adatabase 107.

The server 101 may contain a processor and the server 101 may be anynetwork server or personal computer. The processor may executeinstructions stored in the medium 109. The medium 109 may be, but is notlimited to, a disk drive, firmware, or read only memory. The server 101may access a database 107. The database 107 may contain tables thatinclude user data 103 and encoding tables 102.

The server 101 may receive a broadcast request and a message to bebroadcast from a sender device 108. The server 101 may communicate withthe sender device 108 through a variety of means such as, but notlimited to, a landline, a wireless network, a telecom tower, and asatellite.

Using the example of the farmer, the farmer may send a text message thatcontains information identifying a request to sell, and a radius ordistance that he is willing to travel from his home location. The textmessage also contains that the farmer has 100 pounds of rice for 50cents a pound.

The sender device 108 may be a non-mobile device or a mobile device. Inone embodiment, the sender device 108 may be any mobile deviceincluding, but not limited to, mobile phones, personal data assistants,and handheld personal computers. The recipient device 104 may anon-mobile device or a mobile device. In a preferred embodiment, therecipient device 104 may be any mobile device including, but not limitedto, mobile phones, personal data assistants, and handheld personalcomputers. However, the recipient device 104 or the sender device 108may also be any type of personal computer, desktop, or notebookcomputer. Each recipient device 104 and sender device 108 may have aclient application 105 and a graphical user interface (“GUI) 106.

The broadcast request may contain information identifying the homelocation of the sender, a radius or distance from the home location, anda buy/sell indication. The broadcast request and the message to bebroadcast may each be part of a same data stream. The server 101 mayreceive a request from a sender device 108 requesting that data be sentto a recipient device 104. The broadcast request may be implemented by,but not limited to, a voice message, text message, or voice responsesystem for example a Voice Response Unit (“VRU”) or an Interactive VoiceResponse (“IVR”) unit.

Using the example of the farmer, the farmer may want to only travel 30miles from his current location. As part of broadcast request, thefarmer may enter information identifying his current location andspecifying that he only wishes to travel a distance less than 30 milesfrom the current location.

The server 101 may match the data contained in the broadcast request andthe message to one or more appropriate recipients. The matching criteriamay be based on, for example, function, location, and commodity tradingpreferences.

Examples of a commodity trading preference may include an indicatedcommodity, an indicated exchange, and a market price of the commodity asdetermined by the indicated exchange. Indications of multiplecommodities and/or indications of multiple exchanges or combinationsthereof may also be used as a commodity trading preference. For example,a trading preference may include an indication of a first commodity, anindication of a second commodity, a market price for the first commodityand a market price for the second commodity where the market prices aredetermined by the same exchange. Another example of a trading preferencemay include an indication of a first commodity, an indication of asecond commodity, a market price for the first commodity and a marketprice for the second commodity, where the market prices are determinedby different exchanges.

The location of the recipient may be determined through a variety ofmeans. Some examples of determining the location of the recipient aretriangulating signals from a plurality of telecom towers, locating thelatitude and longitude of the user by a global positioning system,analyzing a subscription pattern of weather and market content, andexamining a recipient's profile. The recipient profile may contain, butis not limited to, an address, a mobile phone number, and an area code.

Using the example of the farmer, the farmer will be matched to buyerswithin a 30-mile radius of the farmer's location. Only those buyers thatwhose profile indicates that they want to buy 100 pounds of rice for aprice of 50 cents a pound will be sent the message from the seller.

The message to be broadcast may contain contact information, anindication of one or more commodities, a time stamp including a date anda time, and a respective price for each commodity. The price may be aprice to buy or a price to sell. The contact information may be, but isnot limited to, a telephone number, an instant messenger identification,a voice mailbox, and an email address. The message to be broadcast bythe server 101 to the recipient devices 104 may be, but is not limitedto, a voice message, an encoded text message, or a clear text message.

The data sent in an encoded text message may be encoded by the use ofencoding tables 102. In the present embodiment, the encoding tables 102are stored in the database 107. However, in other embodiments, thecoding tables may be stored in read only memory, software, firmware, orany other storage mechanism.

In another embodiment, the sender device 108 associated with a buyer maysend a broadcast request and a message to be broadcast containing anorder for a specific quantity of goods or commodities to the server 101.The server 101 may match the information in the message to be broadcastwith a potential seller of the good or commodity contained in themessage. In some embodiments, the buyer may send a response to thesending device 108 or the buyer may send a response to the server 101and the server 101 will send a response to the sending device 108. Theresponse may include, but is not limited to, an acknowledgement, arejection, or an inquiry requesting more information. In someembodiments, the buyer may be a group of buyers and the seller may be agroup of sellers.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an embodiment of a method 200 is shown. At 201,a system may receive a broadcast request and a message to be broadcast.The broadcast request may contain the home location of the sender, aradius from the home location, and a buy/sell indication. The broadcastrequest and the message to be broadcast may each be part of the samedata stream. The broadcast request may be implemented by, but notlimited to, a voice message, text message, or voice response system forexample a Voice Response Unit (“VRU”) or an Interactive Voice Response(“IVR”) unit.

Using the example of the farmer, the farmer may either send a textmessage containing the broadcast request and message to be broadcastfrom his mobile device. Alternatively, the farmer may call into thecentral system and proceed through a series of voice prompts to relayhis request and message to be broadcast.

At 202, the system may match one or more recipients to the broadcastmessage. The system may match the data contained in the broadcastrequest and the message to one or more appropriate recipients. Thematching criteria may be based on location, and commodity tradingpreferences.

Examples of a commodity trading preference may include an indicatedcommodity, an indicated exchange, and a market price of the commodity asdetermined by the indicated exchange. Indications of multiplecommodities and/or indications of multiple exchanges or combinationsthereof may also be used as a commodity trading preference. For example,a trading preference may include an indication of a first commodity, anindication of a second commodity, a market price for the first commodityand a market price for the second commodity where the market prices aredetermined by the same exchange. Another example of a trading preferencemay include an indication of a first commodity, an indication of asecond commodity, a market price for the first commodity and a marketprice for the second commodity, where the market prices are determinedby different exchanges.

The location of the recipient may be determined through a variety ofmeans. Some examples of determining the location of the recipient aretriangulating signals from a plurality of telecom towers, locating thelatitude and longitude of the user by a global positioning system,analyzing a subscription pattern of weather and market content, andexamining a recipient's profile. The recipient profile may contain, butis not limited to, an address, a mobile phone number, and an area code.

At 203, the system broadcasts the message to the one or more devicesassociated with one or more recipients. The message to be broadcast maycontain contact information, an indication of one or more commodities, atime stamp including a date and a time, and a respective price for eachcommodity. The price may be a price to buy or a price to sell. Thecontact information may be, but is not limited to, a telephone number,an instant messenger identification, a voice mailbox, and an emailaddress. The message to be broadcast by the server to the recipientdevices may be, but is not limited to, a voice message, an encoded textmessage, or a clear text message.

The data sent in an encoded text message is encoded by the use ofencoding tables. In the present embodiment, the encoding tables arestored in the database. For example, an encoding table may map shortnames or labels for each commodity, exchange, and other information. Asa specific example, the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (or “MCX”) maybe mapped to a short form of “M”, and commodities traded on theexchange, including pepper, and sugarcane, may be mapped to the shortforms of “P” and “S” respectively. A message to be mapped using theencoding table is, thereby, substantially reduced in size whileproviding detailed information to trading parties. However, in otherembodiments, the coding tables may be stored in read only memory,software, firmware, or any other storage mechanism. In some embodiments,data is transmitted using encoded short message service (“SMS”) textmessages. Certain SMS messages may be limited to 160 characters, whichmay limit the amount of information that may be sent within an SMS textmessage. However, encoding SMS messages may allow significantly moreinformation to be sent within the 160-character limit. In someembodiments, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (“USSD”) messagingmay be used. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that otherencoding techniques may be used.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment of a method 300 is shown. At 301,a sending device sends a broadcast request and a message to be broadcastto a system. The broadcast request may contain the home location of thesender, a radius from the home location, and a buy/sell indication. Thebroadcast request and the message to be broadcast may each be part ofthe same data stream. The server 101 may receive a request from a senderdevice requesting that data be sent to a recipient device. The broadcastrequest may be implemented by, but not limited to, a voice message, textmessage, or voice response system for example a Voice Response Unit(“VRU”) or an Interactive Voice Response (“IVR”) unit.

The message to be broadcast may contain, but is not limited to, contactinformation, an indication of one or more commodities, a time stampincluding a date and a time, and a respective price for each commodity.The price may be a price to buy or a price to sell. The contactinformation may be, but is not limited to, a telephone number, aninstant messenger identification, a voice mailbox, and an email address.The message to be broadcast by the server to the recipient devices maybe, but is not limited to, a voice message, an encoded text message, ora clear text message.

The data sent in an encoded text message is encoded by the use ofencoding tables. In the present embodiment, the encoding tables arestored in a database. However, in other embodiments, the coding tablesmay be stored in read only memory, software, firmware, or any otherstorage mechanism.

At 302, the sender may receive a response from one or more recipients.The response may be, but is not limited to, a phone call, a textmessage, or a voice mail. The text message may be a clear text messageor an encoded text message. The response may include an acceptance ofthe terms in the message, a rejection of the terms of the message, ormay contain a counteroffer.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment of a method 400 is shown. Anexample of one embodiment of the method is creating a broadcast requestand a message to be broadcast. At 401, a sender may identify hisfunction. Examples of functions may be, but are not limited to, a buyer,a seller, and/or transportation.

At 402, the sender may define a location preference to broadcast themessage. The location preference may be, but is not limited to, an areacode, a zip code, a telephone exchange, a latitude and longitude.

At, 403, the user may select commodity related preferences. Examples ofa commodity trading preference may include an indicated commodity, anindicated exchange, and a market price of the commodity as determined bythe indicated exchange. Indications of multiple commodities and/orindications of multiple exchanges or combinations thereof may also beused as a commodity trading preference. For example, a tradingpreference may include an indication of a first commodity, an indicationof a second commodity, a market price for the first commodity and amarket price for the second commodity where the market prices aredetermined by the same exchange. Another example of a trading preferencemay include an indication of a first commodity, an indication of asecond commodity, a market price for the first commodity and a marketprice for the second commodity, where the market prices are determinedby different exchanges.

At 404, the sender instructs the system to broadcast the messageaccording to the parameters. The system may broadcast the broadcastmessage to one or more recipient devices associated with one or morerecipients.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a method 500 is shown. At 501,a data stream is received. The data stream may be broken into abroadcast request and a message to be broadcast.

The broadcast request may contain the home location of a sender, aradius from the home location, and a buy/sell indication. The broadcastrequest and the message to be broadcast may each be part of the samedata stream. A server may receive a request from a sender devicerequesting that data be sent to a recipient device. The broadcastrequest may be implemented by, but not limited to, a voice message, textmessage, or voice response system for example a Voice Response Unit(“VRU”) or an Interactive Voice Response (“IVR”) unit.

The message to be broadcast may contain, but is not limited to, contactinformation, a time stamp including a date and a time, an indication ofone or more commodities, and a respective price for each commodity. Theprice may be a price to buy or a price to sell. The contact informationmay be, but is not limited to, a telephone number, an instant messengeridentification, a voice mailbox, and an email address.

At 502, the information contained in the data stream is matched to findappropriate recipients for the message to be broadcast. At 503,recipients with the appropriate function are matched. Some examples offunction are, but not limited to, buyers and sellers. At 504, recipientswith matching locations are selected. The location preference may be,but is not limited to, an area code, a zip code, a telephone exchange,and a latitude and longitude of the recipient. At 505, recipients withmatching preferences are selected.

Examples of preferences may be, but are not limited to, commoditytrading preferences. A commodity trading preference may include anindicated commodity, an indicated exchange, and a market price of thecommodity as determined by the indicated exchange. Indications ofmultiple commodities and/or indications of multiple exchanges orcombinations thereof may also be used as a commodity trading preference.For example, a trading preference may include an indication of a firstcommodity, an indication of a second commodity, a market price for thefirst commodity and a market price for the second commodity where themarket prices are determined by the same exchange. Another example of atrading preference may include an indication of a first commodity, anindication of a second commodity, a market price for the first commodityand a market price for the second commodity, where the market prices aredetermined by different exchanges.

The foregoing disclosure has been described with reference to specificexemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that variousmodifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from thebroader spirit and scope set forth in the appended claims.

1. A system comprising: a server having a processor; a preferencesdatabase in communication with the server; the server having a mediumstoring instructions adapted to be executed by the processor to performa method, the method comprising: receiving a broadcast request and amessage from a first mobile device, the first mobile device associatedwith a first user; comparing information in the message to informationin the preferences database to match the message with at least a firstrecipient of the message; and transmitting the message to a secondmobile device associated with at least the first recipient.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the message is received from the first mobiledevice in an encoded form.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the messageis transmitted to the second mobile device in an encoded form.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the first user is a seller of goods orservices and the second user is a potential buyer of goods or services.5. The system of claim 1, wherein the message is at least one of a voicemessage, a text message, a short message service text message, and anencoded short message service text message.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the matching is based on a location of the first user and alocation of the second user.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein thelocation is determined by at least one of the following: analyzing asubscription pattern of weather and market content; examining a userprofile that contains at least one of an address, a mobile phone number,and an area code; triangulating signals from a plurality of telecomtowers; and locating a latitude and longitude by a global positioningsystem.
 8. The system of claim 4, wherein the first user is a seller ofa commodity and the matching is based on at least one of a type of acommodity, a grade of the commodity, and an available volume of thecommodity.
 9. The system of claim 4, wherein the first user is a sellerof a commodity and the matching is based on a first preset price limitset by the first user and a second preset price limit set by the seconduser.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first user is a seller andthe first recipient is a group of buyers.
 11. The system of claim 1,wherein the first user is a buyer and the first recipient is a group ofsellers.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the message includes atleast two of an indication of a commodity, a price of the commodity, aquantity of the commodity, and user contact information.
 13. The systemof claim 1, wherein the broadcast request contains at least one of ahome location, a radius, and a commodity.
 14. A method, comprising:receiving a broadcast request and a message from a first mobile device,the first mobile device associated with a first user; comparinginformation in the message to information in the preferences database tomatch the message with at least a first recipient of the message; andtransmitting the message to a second mobile device associated with theat least first recipient.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein thebroadcast request is received from the first mobile device in an encodedform.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the message is transmitted tothe second mobile device in an encoded form.
 17. The system of claim 14,wherein the first user is a seller of goods or services and the seconduser is a potential buyer of goods or services.
 18. The system of claim14, wherein the message is at least one of a voice message, a textmessage, a short message service text message, and an encoded shortmessage service text message.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein thematching is based on a location of the first user and a location of thesecond user.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the location isdetermined by at least one of the following: analyzing a subscriptionpattern of weather and market content; examining a user profile thatcontains at least one of an address, a mobile phone number, and an areacode; triangulating signals from a plurality of telecom towers; andlocating a latitude and longitude by a global positioning system. 21.The system of claim 17, wherein the first user is a seller of acommodity and the matching is based on at least one of a type of acommodity, a grade of the commodity, and an available volume of thecommodity.
 22. The system of claim 17, wherein the first user is aseller of a commodity and the matching is based on a first preset pricelimit set by the first user and a second preset price limit set by thesecond user.
 23. The system of claim 14, wherein the first user is aseller and the first recipient is a group of buyers.
 24. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the first user is a buyer and the first recipient is agroup of sellers.
 25. The system of claim 14, wherein the messageincludes at least two of an indication of a commodity, a price of thecommodity, a quantity of the commodity, and user contact information.26. The system of claim 14, wherein the broadcast request contains atleast one of a home location, a radius, and a commodity.
 27. A methodcomprising: sending, by a user, a broadcast request and a message to bebroadcast to a central system; and receiving one or more responses tothe broadcast message from one or more recipients, wherein therecipients are matched to the broadcast message prior to thebroadcasting of the message.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein thebroadcast request and the message to be broadcast are sent in an encodedform.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein the matching is based on alocation of the first user and a location of the second user.
 30. Themethod of claim 29, wherein the location is determined by at least oneof the following: analyzing a subscription pattern of weather and marketcontent; examining a user profile that contains at least one of anaddress, a mobile phone number, and an area code; triangulating signalsfrom a plurality of telecom towers; and locating a latitude andlongitude by a global positioning system.
 31. The method of claim 27,wherein the user is a seller of a commodity and the matching is based onat least one of a type of a commodity, a grade of the commodity, and anavailable volume of the commodity.
 32. The method of claim 27, whereinthe user is a seller of a commodity and the matching is based on a firstpreset price limit set by the first user and a second preset price limitset by the second user.
 33. The method of claim 27, wherein the firstuser is a seller and the first recipient is a group of buyers.
 34. Themethod of claim 27, wherein the first user is a buyer and the firstrecipient is a group of sellers.
 35. The method of claim 27, wherein themessage includes at least two of an indication of a commodity, a priceof the commodity, a quantity of the commodity, and user contactinformation.
 36. The system of claim 27, wherein the broadcast requestcontains at least one of a home location, a radius, and a commodity.